Chapter Five
It was time for Linc to go home. He didn’t drink more than a beer or two when he was riding and he never stayed late. But Carly was still sitting at the bar, and with the trouble swirling around her, he wanted to be sure she got home safely.
Yesterday at the meeting in her office, she had dropped the bombshell that Drake Trucking was edging toward bankruptcy. Joe Drake had been a very successful businessman all his life. His health issues and medical bills could have been the source of his money problems, as Carly had suggested. Maybe it was the reason Joe had come to him for help.
But Joe hadn’t mentioned money at all, and Linc had a feeling the old man didn’t know how bad things had gotten. Linc wanted to know what had happened to take the company down so fast, and he intended to find out.
Be easier with Carly’s cooperation, but that might take some convincing. She already saw him as powerful and controlling—which he was. But he was more than those things, or at least tried to be.
He needed to know what was happening at Drake Trucking, but first he’d do a little digging, ask around, see what he could turn up on his own.
He wondered if money problems were behind the hijacking and murder. Tomorrow he’d call Townsend, fill him in, and see if his P.I. had come up with anything.
In the meantime, his friends were still there. Johnnie was shuffling around the dance floor with Rowena to a slow country song on the jukebox. Carly had caught the eye of every man in the bar, though she seemed not to notice, or maybe she just didn’t care.
She was polite, but not overly friendly, which for reasons he didn’t want to consider, suited Linc just fine.
“You ridin’ with us tomorrow?” Del asked.
Linc shook his head. One day off was manageable, two, not so much. “Gotta work. Maybe next weekend.”
“I can’t go, either,” Rick grumbled. “I promised Ashley I’d take her on a picnic.”
Johnnie sipped his beer. “If I had a girl as pretty as Ash, I wouldn’t mind,” he said.
“Yeah, just think what’s gonna happen on that blanket after you’re done with the food.” Del wiggled his eyebrows, and Rick’s fair complexion turned red.
The men returned to talking and Linc leaned back in his chair. Carly was packing up to leave. He’d give her a few minutes, then follow her outside. He’d stay in the shadows, just to make sure she got on the road okay. Linc leaned back and took a sip of his now-warm beer.
* * *
Carly slung her fringed leather bag over her shoulder. “It’s been fun,” she said to Rowena.
“Call me.” Row waved as Carly headed for the door. Cain was still there, she knew. She’d done her best to ignore him all evening, but it hadn’t really worked. She could sense his presence like a big, looming shadow.
She didn’t like it. She was determined to make Drake Trucking successful again. With the troubles she was facing, she needed to stay focused, be able to think clearly. Somehow that didn’t happen when Cain was around.
She shoved through the old-fashioned swinging doors, out into the warm Texas night. Stepping down off the wooden boardwalk, she headed for her truck.
She was standing in front of the driver’s door, digging her keys out of her purse, when a noise sounded behind her and a hand clamped her mouth. A man jerked her back against his chest and fear hit her. Carly twisted, tried to break free, slammed an elbow into his ribs and heard him grunt, then stomped her boot down on the arch of his foot. He swore but didn’t let go.
Another man grabbed her, pinned her against the side of the truck. Her pulse raced when she spotted a third man, a big dark Latino with slicked back hair and a bushy mustache. A sharp click sounded and she saw the flash of silver as his switchblade popped open.
“Stop fighting,chica,before you get hurt.”
She breathed through her nose and told herself not to move as the blade settled against the side of her neck, but her heart was hammering, trying to tear through her ribs.
“Did you get the message we delivered this morning?” the man with the mustache asked.
Had to be the scrap of paper she’d found in her living room. She managed to nod.
“We’re here to make sure you understand. Do you see how easy it would be for us to kill you?”
When she didn’t nod, the man holding her from behind tightened his hold, one of his hands sliding up to cup her breast. He squeezed lewdly and fresh fear rolled through her.
“Do you see?” the man with the knife repeated, the blade moving slightly as she swallowed.
She gave him a nod.
